


Dare to Believe

by carolej126, SueN, TeriH



Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Magnificent Seven AU: Little Britches ATF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-27 06:19:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17156828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolej126/pseuds/carolej126, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SueN/pseuds/SueN, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeriH/pseuds/TeriH
Summary: Originally published in Magnificent Holidays 8 (NeonRainbow Press, 2010)Written by the Mod Squad (otherwise known as Carole, Sue, and Teri).





	Dare to Believe

_Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse…  
_

Vin sighed, the seven-year-old pushing his covers away from his body.  


He wasn’t hot. He wasn’t cold. He wasn’t hungry. He wasn’t thirsty. He didn’t even have to go to the bathroom. He just couldn’t sleep.  


He’d tried. He’d closed his eyes. He’d snuggled with Cat. He’d even tried counting sheep, like his Uncle Josiah had suggested one time, although what that had to do with falling asleep, he didn’t have a clue.  


Vin sighed again, wishing that there was a mouse stirring somewhere in the house, because then he could get out of bed and catch that mouse before it opened any of his Christmas presents. Why a mouse would do that, he wasn’t sure, but he just knew it would.  


But no, nothing was stirring. Not even JD, who normally slept in-motion. How he did that, Vin didn’t know. But today, after a full day of holiday activities, the younger boy had fallen asleep within seconds of reaching his bed.  


It figured.  


_Tick. Tick. Tick.  
_

He’d never noticed how loud the clock was before. No wonder he couldn’t sleep, with all that infernal racket. He smiled. He liked those words. Infernal racket. Uncle Ezra had said it once, when he didn’t know Vin was listening. Chris had frowned at him, though, so they probably weren’t words that he was supposed to use.  


He smiled again. He’d just keep it a secret and only use it when he was thinking to himself. Like now.  


_Tick. Tick. Tick.  
_

He’d almost forgotten about the clock. Maybe there was a way to make it stop ticking.  


He darted a look at JD, in the bunk below him, wondering if he could make his way down the ladder without the younger boy waking up.  


He probably could. And maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he did wake JD up, because if he woke JD up, he wouldn’t be the only one awake in the whole house. But then JD would start talking and getting JD to stop talking would be a problem, and Buck and Chris had already let them know that there was to be NO talking before six o’clock.  


Maybe it was six o’clock!  


Chris had showed him how to tell time, or at least, six o’clock, so Vin twisted around to check.  


The big hand was on the twelve, and… He held his breath. Nope, the little one was only on the two.  


He pursed his lips. That’s where it had been the last time he looked, he was sure of it. Was the clock broken? What if the clock was broken and it really was six o’clock and he just didn’t know it?!  


Maybe he should…  


_Thump.  
_

__

__

Vin froze, his eyes wide.  


_Thump. Thump.  
_

Maybe that mouse was finally stirring!  


_Thump. Thump. Thump.  
_

No, it couldn’t be a mouse. The noise was too loud and what would a mouse be doing on the roof anyway?  


So, what was it?  


_And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof, the prancing and pawing of each little hoof…  
_

Reindeer...  


_Thump. Thump. Thump.  
_

Maybe it was reindeer on the roof!  


Reindeer were bigger than a mouse, even tiny reindeer, he was sure. So they'd make more noise. 'Specially if they were prancin' and pawin'. Why reindeer would be prancin' and pawin' on the roof, he wasn't sure, but it sounded like that's what they were doing.  


_Thump. Thump.  
_

And if there were reindeer on the roof, then maybe Saint Nick was up there too, with his sleigh and... toys.  


_Thump.  
_

Vin felt a flutter of excitement in his chest.  


He turned his head to look at the window, just a few short steps across the room. He was sure he could make his way down the ladder and across to the window without waking JD up. But that wouldn't be fair. If he was going to see Saint Nick and his reindeer, then JD would have to see them too.  


Nope, he sighed, that wouldn't work. JD awake and talking would be a problem but JD awake and excited about seeing Saint Nick would be more like an infernal racket and he just knew Buck and Chris wouldn't like that.  


He wondered if Chris and Buck had heard the noise and gotten up to 'vestigate, but he didn't think so, he was sure he would have heard them. Well, not Chris, Chris was real quiet but Buck was like JD, even his whispers were loud.  


He sighed again, and snuggled Cat up under his chin. At least he'd heard the reindeer and Saint Nick, even if he hadn’t seen them, and he'd be able to tell JD all about it in the morning.  


_Tick. Tick. Tick.  
_

Vin held his breath and listened but there were no more thumps, which was a shame 'cause he'd forgotten about the clock while he was listening to the thumps.  


Maybe he should try counting sheep again, or maybe it would work better if he counted something more interesting.  


He curled onto his side, Cat still snuggled under his chin, and thought about the tiny reindeer. He remembered there were eight, which was likely why they made so much noise on the roof.  


But if he knew there were eight, would it still work if he counted them?  


Maybe he could try to remember their names.  


He closed his eyes, smiling as he heard his Uncle Ezra's voice in his head, reading the Christmas poem to him and JD after dinner, and began to softly recite the names. _Dasher... Dancer... Prancer...  
_

Maybe it was Prancer who’d got them all prancin’ and pawin’.  


He’d have to ask Uncle Ezra about that.  


His eyes still closed, he reached out a hand and pulled up the covers, wrapping them around himself and Cat.  


_Vixen...  
_

_Comet... Cupid...  
_

Stifling a yawn, he let the smooth honeyed tones of his uncle’s voice lull him to sleep.  


_Donner_ , he murmured... _and Blitzen...  
_

_He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf…_

Vin sat up in bed. He wasn’t sure what had caused him to awake but something felt wrong. 

_Tick. Tick. Tick._

According to the clock only a few minutes had passed since he last looked. 

Then he heard it.

_Thump._

The noise was no longer coming from the roof.

_Thump. Thump._

Someone was downstairs. Maybe it was Chris.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

But what if it wasn’t? He should tell someone.

Vin pushed away the covers and started down the ladder of the bunk bed, stopping long enough to grab Cat and tuck him under his arm. 

He shivered as his bare feet hit the cold hardwood floor. He headed for the door but remembered JD. Would it be safe to leave him alone? JD was little and depended on him. He couldn’t leave him here with someone in the house.

“JD, wake up. JD?"

Vin moved to the bed and pulled back the covers. It was empty. 

_Thump._

JD… that explained a lot, but it wasn’t six o’clock yet. If all JD’s thumping woke Chris and Buck they would be in big trouble. 

Once on the landing Vin saw the glow of the lit Christmas tree coming from the door of the den. He started down the stairs determined to unplug the tree and get JD back to bed before anyone realized they were up. 

Vin began to enter the room and gasped, his hands flying to his mouth to cover the sound. He jumped back and then carefully peeked back around the doorframe. 

Standing next to the Christmas tree was Santa… St. Nick himself. 

Santa pulled packages from his pack and placed them under the tree. The man stopped now and then to nibble on the cookies and drink the milk Buck had insisted they leave by the tree for just such a visit. 

Vin watched as the jolly elf moved toward the chimney where seven previously empty stockings now hung full of goodies. Santa tucked one last item into the stocking marked Vin before turning, looking directly at him and winking.

He gasped again.

_And laying his finger aside of his nose, And giving a nod…_

“Vin! Vin! Come on, you gotta see!”

Vin sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 

It had all been a dream… 

Or had it?

Vin jumped from his bed to the floor and raced down the stairs to the den where his family waited. 

The tree was surrounded by presents but he had eyes only for the stockings that hung from the fireplace. Could he dare to believe…

He reached into his stocking and pulled out an old battered harmonica, the one his grandfather had played so long ago, the harmonica he had thought was lost forever. With a smile he raised it to his lips and blew.

_But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight, "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"_

~end~


End file.
